The good news today is that Fair Maps Texas Action Committee with a coalition of civil rights groups including Common Cause, Clean Elections Texas, League of Women Voters of Texas, Our Vote Texas, Texans Against Gerrymandering. and ACLU Texas filed a federal lawsuit against the State of Texas challenging the unconstitutional district map…
The good news today is that Fair Maps Texas Action Committee with a coalition of civil rights groups including Common Cause, Clean Elections Texas, League of Women Voters of Texas, Our Vote Texas, Texans Against Gerrymandering. and ACLU Texas filed a federal lawsuit against the State of Texas challenging the unconstitutional district maps that give Republicans autocratic power for the next decade at least. The redistricting which added two new Congressional Districts to Texas will give white Republicans a large advantage even though 95% of the population growth in Texas came from people of color. Unless the courts remedy this, Texas is no longer a democracy. It is now an autocracy. Don't Texas the rest of the states! Read David Pepper's new book on "Laboratories of Autocracy".
Great book recommendation. I urge everyone to consider moving Laboratories of Autocracy to the top of your reading list. We must act now to save our democracy and this easy to read book explains how it’s all about the state houses - local elections! One section describes how politicians climb the rungs of the election ladder and end up in Congress with little to no real campaign experience - because they were appointed or they ran unopposed all the way. A quick review of my last sample election ballot proves that is the case. Republican candidates for local offices were running unopposed in so many districts my heart sank. NY state may look like Democrats are in the majority, but the local districts paint a very different picture of who is making the laws.
I went over NC’s new voting maps and several districts have R’s running unopposed. Heartbreaking! The R’s have all kinds of evil planned if they win majorities in Congress.
Are people afraid to run against them? Does anyone understand what is going on here or how we can solve this? Are there truly no sane folks in these districts?
I think sane folks are in the minority. The districts have been rigged to a fare-thee-well. My district now includes a county that is very rural and votes Republican. That county was also home to R voting fraud regarding absentee ballot harvesting. The current reality is the latest in a long line of efforts to suppress the votes of progressive voters. I use the term “progressive” to mean those who care about ordinary people. NC is a purple state about evenly divided. The R legislature has voted in maps to give themselves a 71%-78% advantage in the number of congressional seats. I feel like l live in a John Grisham novel.
Ditto here in Ohio. Although here, the Ds are fairly concentrated in the cities, especially Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, while the rural areas are very R. Still, for statewide votes like president and senator, we are fairly purple. We have voted twice that we want nonpartisan districts. And look where we are - the most gerrymandered state in the country.
I know whereof you speak, Kathy. I lived in northwest Ohio for 17, most recently Perrysburg, outside of Toledo. Perrysburg is in Wood County, which is rural farm country, pretty conservative.
I did not engage in political conversations with ANYONE. Is Ohio more gerrymandered than NC which previously had its terrible maps thrown out because they targeted minorities with surgical precision?Now the R legislature has given themselves 71%-78 of the 14 congressional seat. NC is a purple state, evenly divided.
Ugh. I am originally from a little Southern Baptist town in NC. Born and raised there by Holocaust victims from Poland and Germany. The minute I graduated from high school, I high-tailed it out of there. I have one very close friend who is still there and two others in Raleigh/Durham area. These gerrymandering tactics are being used here in CA too although the majority of the state are Democrats. Sickening but fight fight FIGHT!
Are you referring to local jurisdictions? California has an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission that for 2020 is composed of 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans and 4 No Party Preference for the required 14 members. Redistricting for state and federal elective positions is extremely interactive; same is true for what is happening in the City of San Diego.
"In 2008, California voters passed the Voters First Act, authorizing the creation of the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission to draw new State Senate, State Assembly, and State Board of Equalization district lines. In 2010, the Voters First Act for Congress gave the Commission the responsibility of drawing new Congressional districts following every census." https://voiceofoc.org/2021/11/2020-california-citizens-redistricting-commission-releases-draft-maps-ahead-of-deadline/
"The 14-member 2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission is fully formed. As required by law, the first eight members of the 2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission were randomly selected on July 2, 2020 from a list of remaining applicants delivered by the Legislature on June 26, 2020. These first eight members chose the final six members from the applicants that remained in the applicant pool on August 7, 2020." https://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/index/
I’m also in NC. Back in the 80s the company for which my husband worked moved to NC because it was a non-union state. At the time I thought that was a sick reason to move and I still do. The so-called purpling of this state has been effectively undone by the gerrymandering of recent years. We live on the perimeter of the very progressive college where I taught, but for the past few years we’ve been redistricted into a very red area. The blue district where we used to vote was cut into two very heavily red districts.
The R legislature drew the maps so that they created a district for Tim Price to run for Congress. How about that? It just makes me want to slap them silly!
I don’t think people are afraid to run against the Republicans. I think the state is so gerrymandered that it is a lost cause because these districts will never vote for a Democrat or an Independent.
True. It’s a long game. We’re making progress in my area. Not close enough to pass the majority mark yet, but getting closer each election - provided there is an actual democratic candidate on the ballot! Running unopposed is giving it away.
I am too! Actually, frustrated that people simply do not educate themselves about their world. Quite a few I have spoken to refuse to watch the news, which I understand but there are other resources than mainstream media.
David's book is incredible. I also urge all of you to read it. And, please follow him on Twitter (if you are on Twitter) as his posts have so much information, almost in real time. Here is one to watch :https://twitter.com/DavidPepper/status/1458461663846440961
Reading Laboratories of Autocracy. Pepper is very complimentary of the League of Women Voters - an organization that I need to join here in NY. Legislative corruption at the state level is very familiar to us in NYS, and we recently saw the failure of propositions that would have strengthened voting in our supposed blue state. Autocracy is in the process of playing out -creeping along- here in NY just as Pepper outlines in Laboratories of Democracy. (We Democrats had not much support to understand the props. Not even yard signs; whereas, the ReThuglicans had those basics covered.) 5-Alarm Fire. This is not a drill. ❤️🤍💙
You are so right! And it's even worse in red states. Florida's legislature proposed maps that totally go against the fair districting laws and when questioned about it by a civil rights attorney who is leading the charge for the League of Women Voters against these maps, their response was something along the lines of "because we don't have to".
I just downloaded “Laboratories of Autocracy” to my Kindle this week. Positively riveting! Not to mention insightful and full of action ideas we can all engage in to protect our fragile democracy.
With luck and hard work, maybe my neighbors and I can prevent Minnesota from going ‘Texas.’ And maybe pave the way for future generations to live in a full on democratic Republic like we have.
The bad news is that America needs this good news.
Gerrymandering executed by people with a vested interest in the outcome has the effect of burying a giant but silent FAIL button in the vital organs of democracy.
And now in this age of analytics and big data it becomes child’s play to snap your fingers and order up a way to “win” your state.
Looking at maps of gerrymandered states would be Onion-esque if the consequences weren’t so deadly.
American politics always takes every opportunity to go the edge of the abyss and peer down into the blackness. It’s the hubris of power, but from afar it looks like a death wish.
Many afar know our death spiral was started by the greed and hubris of a few maniacal American billionaires who despise the Common Good. Authoritarianism requires cash and the political power it buys.
The good news today is that Fair Maps Texas Action Committee with a coalition of civil rights groups including Common Cause, Clean Elections Texas, League of Women Voters of Texas, Our Vote Texas, Texans Against Gerrymandering. and ACLU Texas filed a federal lawsuit against the State of Texas challenging the unconstitutional district maps that give Republicans autocratic power for the next decade at least. The redistricting which added two new Congressional Districts to Texas will give white Republicans a large advantage even though 95% of the population growth in Texas came from people of color. Unless the courts remedy this, Texas is no longer a democracy. It is now an autocracy. Don't Texas the rest of the states! Read David Pepper's new book on "Laboratories of Autocracy".
Great book recommendation. I urge everyone to consider moving Laboratories of Autocracy to the top of your reading list. We must act now to save our democracy and this easy to read book explains how it’s all about the state houses - local elections! One section describes how politicians climb the rungs of the election ladder and end up in Congress with little to no real campaign experience - because they were appointed or they ran unopposed all the way. A quick review of my last sample election ballot proves that is the case. Republican candidates for local offices were running unopposed in so many districts my heart sank. NY state may look like Democrats are in the majority, but the local districts paint a very different picture of who is making the laws.
I went over NC’s new voting maps and several districts have R’s running unopposed. Heartbreaking! The R’s have all kinds of evil planned if they win majorities in Congress.
Are people afraid to run against them? Does anyone understand what is going on here or how we can solve this? Are there truly no sane folks in these districts?
I think sane folks are in the minority. The districts have been rigged to a fare-thee-well. My district now includes a county that is very rural and votes Republican. That county was also home to R voting fraud regarding absentee ballot harvesting. The current reality is the latest in a long line of efforts to suppress the votes of progressive voters. I use the term “progressive” to mean those who care about ordinary people. NC is a purple state about evenly divided. The R legislature has voted in maps to give themselves a 71%-78% advantage in the number of congressional seats. I feel like l live in a John Grisham novel.
Ditto here in Ohio. Although here, the Ds are fairly concentrated in the cities, especially Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, while the rural areas are very R. Still, for statewide votes like president and senator, we are fairly purple. We have voted twice that we want nonpartisan districts. And look where we are - the most gerrymandered state in the country.
I know whereof you speak, Kathy. I lived in northwest Ohio for 17, most recently Perrysburg, outside of Toledo. Perrysburg is in Wood County, which is rural farm country, pretty conservative.
I did not engage in political conversations with ANYONE. Is Ohio more gerrymandered than NC which previously had its terrible maps thrown out because they targeted minorities with surgical precision?Now the R legislature has given themselves 71%-78 of the 14 congressional seat. NC is a purple state, evenly divided.
Ugh. I am originally from a little Southern Baptist town in NC. Born and raised there by Holocaust victims from Poland and Germany. The minute I graduated from high school, I high-tailed it out of there. I have one very close friend who is still there and two others in Raleigh/Durham area. These gerrymandering tactics are being used here in CA too although the majority of the state are Democrats. Sickening but fight fight FIGHT!
Are you referring to local jurisdictions? California has an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission that for 2020 is composed of 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans and 4 No Party Preference for the required 14 members. Redistricting for state and federal elective positions is extremely interactive; same is true for what is happening in the City of San Diego.
"In 2008, California voters passed the Voters First Act, authorizing the creation of the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission to draw new State Senate, State Assembly, and State Board of Equalization district lines. In 2010, the Voters First Act for Congress gave the Commission the responsibility of drawing new Congressional districts following every census." https://voiceofoc.org/2021/11/2020-california-citizens-redistricting-commission-releases-draft-maps-ahead-of-deadline/
"The 14-member 2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission is fully formed. As required by law, the first eight members of the 2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission were randomly selected on July 2, 2020 from a list of remaining applicants delivered by the Legislature on June 26, 2020. These first eight members chose the final six members from the applicants that remained in the applicant pool on August 7, 2020." https://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/index/
If Joe Manchin screws Dems chance to getting voting rights passed, I will be obsessed with seeing him gone before I die.
I’m also in NC. Back in the 80s the company for which my husband worked moved to NC because it was a non-union state. At the time I thought that was a sick reason to move and I still do. The so-called purpling of this state has been effectively undone by the gerrymandering of recent years. We live on the perimeter of the very progressive college where I taught, but for the past few years we’ve been redistricted into a very red area. The blue district where we used to vote was cut into two very heavily red districts.
The R legislature drew the maps so that they created a district for Tim Price to run for Congress. How about that? It just makes me want to slap them silly!
Mitch planned well and states learned evil from the master
No, Mein Kompf
I don’t think people are afraid to run against the Republicans. I think the state is so gerrymandered that it is a lost cause because these districts will never vote for a Democrat or an Independent.
Well they never will if people don’t try.
True. It’s a long game. We’re making progress in my area. Not close enough to pass the majority mark yet, but getting closer each election - provided there is an actual democratic candidate on the ballot! Running unopposed is giving it away.
I am shocked at the number of people who have no clue
I am too! Actually, frustrated that people simply do not educate themselves about their world. Quite a few I have spoken to refuse to watch the news, which I understand but there are other resources than mainstream media.
Never have we been in such dire shape, cults never rule for the people. Ignore at your children’s peril, ostriches
Tragic in NC run by McConnell clone Boss Berger, and the doughboy Moore!
They are the Despicable Duo.
David's book is incredible. I also urge all of you to read it. And, please follow him on Twitter (if you are on Twitter) as his posts have so much information, almost in real time. Here is one to watch :https://twitter.com/DavidPepper/status/1458461663846440961
Yes!!! I was stunned to see those unopposed seats in the county next to mine which isn’t that far from NYC, but still purple-turning-red. ❤️🤍💙
Reading Laboratories of Autocracy. Pepper is very complimentary of the League of Women Voters - an organization that I need to join here in NY. Legislative corruption at the state level is very familiar to us in NYS, and we recently saw the failure of propositions that would have strengthened voting in our supposed blue state. Autocracy is in the process of playing out -creeping along- here in NY just as Pepper outlines in Laboratories of Democracy. (We Democrats had not much support to understand the props. Not even yard signs; whereas, the ReThuglicans had those basics covered.) 5-Alarm Fire. This is not a drill. ❤️🤍💙
You are so right! And it's even worse in red states. Florida's legislature proposed maps that totally go against the fair districting laws and when questioned about it by a civil rights attorney who is leading the charge for the League of Women Voters against these maps, their response was something along the lines of "because we don't have to".
I just downloaded “Laboratories of Autocracy” to my Kindle this week. Positively riveting! Not to mention insightful and full of action ideas we can all engage in to protect our fragile democracy.
With luck and hard work, maybe my neighbors and I can prevent Minnesota from going ‘Texas.’ And maybe pave the way for future generations to live in a full on democratic Republic like we have.
Nothing is certain in life but death and Texas.
But, Beto...
The bad news is that America needs this good news.
Gerrymandering executed by people with a vested interest in the outcome has the effect of burying a giant but silent FAIL button in the vital organs of democracy.
And now in this age of analytics and big data it becomes child’s play to snap your fingers and order up a way to “win” your state.
Looking at maps of gerrymandered states would be Onion-esque if the consequences weren’t so deadly.
American politics always takes every opportunity to go the edge of the abyss and peer down into the blackness. It’s the hubris of power, but from afar it looks like a death wish.
Many afar know our death spiral was started by the greed and hubris of a few maniacal American billionaires who despise the Common Good. Authoritarianism requires cash and the political power it buys.